When I started looking for lots, I also started to look for an architect to design our home. I looked through the list of registered architects in our area and found only a handful of names. There are only a few rare homes designed by architects in the US, most architects do commercial or industrial design and very few work as residential architects. Anyhow, I don’t know that I had any specific criteria, but I picked out 3 names from the list. I believe if it is meant to be, it will be. I could go through the whole list, but if instead I find what I need among the 3 why go beyond. And if not, I can always expand my search.
The first architect I met had pretty much retired and had last designed and built homes in the 70s and 80s. He lived in a house that was designed by him in the style of those times. His portfolio also contained homes of that style. It was difficult for me to judge if he could give me what I was looking for in a house. He did ask pertinent questions regarding our needs for the house. There were 3 things that made me decide against him – I wasn’t convinced he could offer what I wanted design-wise, he had his own ideas of what should be in the house (independent of my own requirements) and finally he wanted me to pay him $20K, which I thought at that time was quite steep, especially considering that I would only get blueprints from him, and then my builder would have to develop construction documents from them.
So on to architect #2. He was part of a firm that did both commercial and residential work. His portfolio was impressive. He also offered a very reasonable suggestion – for the money I wanted to spend on an architect he said, I should look for plans in books or on-line and find something that I thought matched my interests the most and he would amend them for a more custom fit. While I agreed it was a reasonable suggestion, I still wanted something truly custom designed for us. Although at this point, I was beginning to realize this was maybe a pipedream. But I said thank you and good bye to him as well.
Finally, architect #3, he was at the point where he only planned to do residential architecture, his passion. He had a staff of drafters, architects, and interior designers but he was the principle architect. As soon as I met him, I knew he was going to be our architect. The first thing I said to him was – before we start discussing anything, I should let you know, I studied architecture. Most of the work I saw in his portfolio was modern, that is what he liked to do. I also knew he had designed a home for another Indian family and he told me he designed one home in India long-distance! But as you can imagine, most of the homes he designed were upwards of a million dollars.
I laid out my requirements to him. In short, I wanted a house no more than about 2500 sq ft, within a budget of $350k. He accepted my job right away; I suspect he did it because I studied architecture and because I gave him a challenge.
I had prepared a long list of requirements for our home. Some important ones were – walk in closets in all bedrooms, even if the kids’ rooms have a little smaller walk-ins. I didn’t care if the bedrooms were small, even the master bedroom, I didn’t plan to put a sitting area in the bedroom. Who uses that area? Of course, my original quest for a larger foyer area, and especially a working mudroom. I also wanted a walk-in pantry and a large front porch. My list was 10 pages long. I had information regarding how I wanted the spaces to flow. For example, I wanted our guest room on the main floor so they wouldn’t be close to our or the kids’ rooms, which meant the powder room had to be a full bath. But when you decide to build a small house, you have to realize some compromises, the powder room had to be close from the mudroom, situated so the guests didn’t have to see or go through any private spaces. But unfortunately, this meant we couldn’t have it attached to or next to the guest room.
The architect told us to expect the plans to take about 6 months to complete…
Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Building Our Custom Home – Part II – Finding a Lot
The neighborhood we lived in was part of a wonderful school district (actually we are lucky that our school districts are all commendable). My reasoning was, if we purchased a lot in our school district then we wouldn’t have to worry about having the house completed by a deadline and our kids could start school and continue uninterrupted by our moving.
So we set out to look at lots. There were many new neighborhoods being developed near our current home, but they were mostly developed by one company. This meant we had a choice of a few plans and no options to choose anything other than the builder’s finishes. But that is why you can get some good quality stuff in those houses for much less than if you build your own. Those builders get some heavy discounts for such big orders. Imagine all the houses in the neighborhood have the same shower stall, that is a lot of shower stalls.
If I was going to take the trouble to build a house, I wanted more freedom to choose than that. So it meant I had to look at neighborhoods that offered custom built homes. That is, you could buy what is called a spec home – something a builder goes ahead and builds and finds customers who want higher end homes, but not the hassle of building them. Or you could buy a lot and build your own home. Usually the lot was sold by a builder who wanted you to look through their set of plans and with minor modifications made by their team build the house. The builders are always in a hurry to build once the lot was sold. But I am getting ahead of myself.
We looked at a neighborhood in our school district, it had been developed for some time and the only lots left were the difficult ones, for example, steep inclines or very close to a major road. So I dropped that idea and moved my search to other areas. One of the neighborhoods we looked at was developed around a golf course – a highly priced commodity (which I don’t understand). My agent and I went to see the developer’s agent and she was so snooty, she wouldn’t even show me the more expensive lots, saying they are beyond my budget. I said, so what, there is no harm in looking, but she wouldn’t show me. And I am not talking about driving around the neighborhood; I am talking about sitting in her office and looking at a map. The funny part is the more expensive lots are the ones that abut the golf course. Those are the very lots I had no interest in. Why? You ask. For one thing golf courses open early in the morning, so it means that the mowers and the fertilizers and whatnot have to get their job done earlier still. Not to mention stray golf balls and kids in the back yard is a bad combination. And if that isn’t bad enough, all those chemicals that they spray to keep the grass so weed free and green. Do you think that poison stops at your lot line?
But anyhow, I found a lot that was flat, right across the street from what would be developed as a little park. The lot faced south – which meant the sun would help us keep the driveway ice free in the winters. So we decided to buy it. I told the builder that I planned on hiring an architect and my guess was it would take about 6 months to get the plans finalized. The builder’s wife, their interior design consultant, offered to help with design ideas because she was “very good” at that kind of stuff as she was also a realtor. What did I need an architect for? It so happened, that we planned to be away for several weeks visiting India, so that was another delay in our building plans. The builder not only did not want to wait for an architect, but actually expected us to made decisions on our house plans in the month before we left for India. There is no way you can convince me, that I would get a “custom” home this way. What I would get was a spec home disguised as a custom home. So before the month was out, we resold the lot back to the builder.
So it was back to the hunting grounds again. This time I decided to find a lot that was not owned by a builder. I contacted a developer of yet another neighborhood and asked if he had any lots available that had not been sold to a builder. He sent me a list of 8 or 10 lots. I drove by and looked at them, asked our architect to swing by one day and offer his suggestions and that is how we came by a lot.
Now that we had a lot and we had to develop house plans for it. I set out to hire an architect…
Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
So we set out to look at lots. There were many new neighborhoods being developed near our current home, but they were mostly developed by one company. This meant we had a choice of a few plans and no options to choose anything other than the builder’s finishes. But that is why you can get some good quality stuff in those houses for much less than if you build your own. Those builders get some heavy discounts for such big orders. Imagine all the houses in the neighborhood have the same shower stall, that is a lot of shower stalls.
If I was going to take the trouble to build a house, I wanted more freedom to choose than that. So it meant I had to look at neighborhoods that offered custom built homes. That is, you could buy what is called a spec home – something a builder goes ahead and builds and finds customers who want higher end homes, but not the hassle of building them. Or you could buy a lot and build your own home. Usually the lot was sold by a builder who wanted you to look through their set of plans and with minor modifications made by their team build the house. The builders are always in a hurry to build once the lot was sold. But I am getting ahead of myself.
We looked at a neighborhood in our school district, it had been developed for some time and the only lots left were the difficult ones, for example, steep inclines or very close to a major road. So I dropped that idea and moved my search to other areas. One of the neighborhoods we looked at was developed around a golf course – a highly priced commodity (which I don’t understand). My agent and I went to see the developer’s agent and she was so snooty, she wouldn’t even show me the more expensive lots, saying they are beyond my budget. I said, so what, there is no harm in looking, but she wouldn’t show me. And I am not talking about driving around the neighborhood; I am talking about sitting in her office and looking at a map. The funny part is the more expensive lots are the ones that abut the golf course. Those are the very lots I had no interest in. Why? You ask. For one thing golf courses open early in the morning, so it means that the mowers and the fertilizers and whatnot have to get their job done earlier still. Not to mention stray golf balls and kids in the back yard is a bad combination. And if that isn’t bad enough, all those chemicals that they spray to keep the grass so weed free and green. Do you think that poison stops at your lot line?
But anyhow, I found a lot that was flat, right across the street from what would be developed as a little park. The lot faced south – which meant the sun would help us keep the driveway ice free in the winters. So we decided to buy it. I told the builder that I planned on hiring an architect and my guess was it would take about 6 months to get the plans finalized. The builder’s wife, their interior design consultant, offered to help with design ideas because she was “very good” at that kind of stuff as she was also a realtor. What did I need an architect for? It so happened, that we planned to be away for several weeks visiting India, so that was another delay in our building plans. The builder not only did not want to wait for an architect, but actually expected us to made decisions on our house plans in the month before we left for India. There is no way you can convince me, that I would get a “custom” home this way. What I would get was a spec home disguised as a custom home. So before the month was out, we resold the lot back to the builder.
So it was back to the hunting grounds again. This time I decided to find a lot that was not owned by a builder. I contacted a developer of yet another neighborhood and asked if he had any lots available that had not been sold to a builder. He sent me a list of 8 or 10 lots. I drove by and looked at them, asked our architect to swing by one day and offer his suggestions and that is how we came by a lot.
Now that we had a lot and we had to develop house plans for it. I set out to hire an architect…
Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Building Our Custom Home – Part I – Why?
We bought our first home in 2000, the year our first son was born. Even as we moved into the house we knew we wouldn’t be there for long. There was nothing wrong with the house, we just felt that we would find something more “us” later.
So another son and three years later, I set out looking at homes. There was no hurry on our part, and I could take my time to look. After living in our home for three years I had a better idea of what I wanted in the new home. Three things that bothered me in our home were – tiny entry and hallway, non-existent mudroom, and small closets in the master bedroom.
The tiny entry and hallway made it difficult for more than 2 people to stand there, so if you had to open the door for guests you could only let in one at a time and if that involved taking off a jacket – fuggetaboutit. Now my kids were still little then, but there was hardly room to even put some hooks up for their jackets or a boot tray to set their dirty shoes on. It made it difficult to keep the carpet clean, because we usually ended up in the house to get our jackets and boots off in the winter. Not to mention my husband would walk into the house, sit on the couch to take his shoes off. So you see, it was hard to keep that outside dirt (and it can get real messy in a rain or winter) off the carpet. Now I don’t have many clothes, but still there is the winter and summer to consider. It was difficult to fit all my clothes in the closet. Not to mention, there was no closet organizer in there, just a shelf and hanging bar. I installed closet organizers and that helped, but was still insufficient space. Before you get the idea that I only sought grand spaces, let me tell you, our master bath only had a shower in it and it was plenty fine with me. Our bedrooms were small and that was fine with me too.
Our house also had some wonderful qualities that I knew we may not be able to duplicate. We lived on a cul-de-sac which meant less traffic. We were lucky and had many kids come over to our cul-de-sac to play and it felt very lively and enjoyable to my little ones too. We had a pie shaped lot as we were at top of the cul-de-sac and so did the house behind us. So we had an unusually long distance between our houses in the back. Not to mention the house behind us had planted a forest of trees, so we always felt a great sense of privacy. Although I thought it was excessive, we had a living and family rooms at opposite ends and sides of the house. Depending on the time of the day, the living room felt wonderful in the morning light and the family room was just fine even in the evenings. Maybe because the living room was empty but for a couple of sofas and coffee table the kids didn’t spend much time in there, which also made it attractive to sit and find some quiet time.
Anyhow, back to the house hunting. I started out by telling our agent that we wanted to buy a house about $400k. She started showing me some homes that were pretty close to the size and style of our home and with the same drawbacks. So I upped the budget and said how about $500k. The houses got bigger, there were walk-in closets in the master bedrooms, entry ways also started getting grander and wider, but the mudroom still continued to be non-existent. So we upped the budget again to $600k, I finally walked through a home that was 6000 sq ft, it had two sets of staircases, the main staircase from the front foyer and another back staircase from the kitchen. The finished basement had a sauna room, a wine cellar and a family room big enough to hold a mini-bar, pool table and a TV area. After all this, the house still barely spared 50 sq ft towards the mudroom!
So I said, this is nuts, I don’t want such a big house, I just want a house with a mudroom. That is what my mantra became at that time. And so we decided to build a house. Now we had to find a lot…
Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
So another son and three years later, I set out looking at homes. There was no hurry on our part, and I could take my time to look. After living in our home for three years I had a better idea of what I wanted in the new home. Three things that bothered me in our home were – tiny entry and hallway, non-existent mudroom, and small closets in the master bedroom.
The tiny entry and hallway made it difficult for more than 2 people to stand there, so if you had to open the door for guests you could only let in one at a time and if that involved taking off a jacket – fuggetaboutit. Now my kids were still little then, but there was hardly room to even put some hooks up for their jackets or a boot tray to set their dirty shoes on. It made it difficult to keep the carpet clean, because we usually ended up in the house to get our jackets and boots off in the winter. Not to mention my husband would walk into the house, sit on the couch to take his shoes off. So you see, it was hard to keep that outside dirt (and it can get real messy in a rain or winter) off the carpet. Now I don’t have many clothes, but still there is the winter and summer to consider. It was difficult to fit all my clothes in the closet. Not to mention, there was no closet organizer in there, just a shelf and hanging bar. I installed closet organizers and that helped, but was still insufficient space. Before you get the idea that I only sought grand spaces, let me tell you, our master bath only had a shower in it and it was plenty fine with me. Our bedrooms were small and that was fine with me too.
Our house also had some wonderful qualities that I knew we may not be able to duplicate. We lived on a cul-de-sac which meant less traffic. We were lucky and had many kids come over to our cul-de-sac to play and it felt very lively and enjoyable to my little ones too. We had a pie shaped lot as we were at top of the cul-de-sac and so did the house behind us. So we had an unusually long distance between our houses in the back. Not to mention the house behind us had planted a forest of trees, so we always felt a great sense of privacy. Although I thought it was excessive, we had a living and family rooms at opposite ends and sides of the house. Depending on the time of the day, the living room felt wonderful in the morning light and the family room was just fine even in the evenings. Maybe because the living room was empty but for a couple of sofas and coffee table the kids didn’t spend much time in there, which also made it attractive to sit and find some quiet time.
Anyhow, back to the house hunting. I started out by telling our agent that we wanted to buy a house about $400k. She started showing me some homes that were pretty close to the size and style of our home and with the same drawbacks. So I upped the budget and said how about $500k. The houses got bigger, there were walk-in closets in the master bedrooms, entry ways also started getting grander and wider, but the mudroom still continued to be non-existent. So we upped the budget again to $600k, I finally walked through a home that was 6000 sq ft, it had two sets of staircases, the main staircase from the front foyer and another back staircase from the kitchen. The finished basement had a sauna room, a wine cellar and a family room big enough to hold a mini-bar, pool table and a TV area. After all this, the house still barely spared 50 sq ft towards the mudroom!
So I said, this is nuts, I don’t want such a big house, I just want a house with a mudroom. That is what my mantra became at that time. And so we decided to build a house. Now we had to find a lot…
Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Summer Travel to India – Part V – New Delhi Again
Our final destination this summer was New Delhi again for the third time. This time we had my niece’s birthday to look forward to. She was quite excited about becoming a teenager. The day we got back to New Delhi she was all set to go shopping for some new clothes. An important birthday ritual for Indians is that the birthday person wears new clothes on their birthday. There were five of us, my niece, her parents and her two aunts (me and her mom’s sister). All of us browsed through the store and with the help of a saleslady put together a few outfits for her to try on. In the end we boiled down to four sets that looked good. She was so excited we got her all four of them. She wondered when she would wear them all. My suggestion was she greets her guests to her birthday party in one outfit. Have dinner in another, dessert in yet a third one and then a final change to bid everyone a goodbye. No, that is not what she did.
It was quite late in the evening when the birthday guests arrived so we decided to cut the cake first. My kids were quite excited about the cake as they had tasted it before and knew it would be good. What they were not prepared for was this – my niece cut the cake and as is tradition was fed the first piece of cake. As soon as she took a bite the rest of the piece was smeared all over her face. My youngest thought this was so cool. I think he can’t wait to try this on someone else now. Another fun tradition among kids is the birthday bumps. Where friends grab your arms and legs and swing you in the air and on every down swing they bump you on the floor. You have to endure as many bumps as the number of years in your birthday. My kids thought this was quite funny. My youngest would keep jumping on his cousin and then she would fall to the floor (which I had thankfully asked them to cushion with a mattress). So her bumps turned more into falls. A good time was had by all. (Pic 1: sign at McDonald's)
After the birthday it was mainly wrap-up time in India, figuring out any last minute details, confirming travel plans, and saying goodbyes. After travelling for 5 weeks, it is always good to come home. But after the hustle and bustle of the city and so much family it felt very quiet in Madison. The house feels too big for just the four of us. But after a while as jetlag wears off, we all settle into our routines and life goes on. (Pic 2: Pretty much what Delhi looked like this summer)
Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
It was quite late in the evening when the birthday guests arrived so we decided to cut the cake first. My kids were quite excited about the cake as they had tasted it before and knew it would be good. What they were not prepared for was this – my niece cut the cake and as is tradition was fed the first piece of cake. As soon as she took a bite the rest of the piece was smeared all over her face. My youngest thought this was so cool. I think he can’t wait to try this on someone else now. Another fun tradition among kids is the birthday bumps. Where friends grab your arms and legs and swing you in the air and on every down swing they bump you on the floor. You have to endure as many bumps as the number of years in your birthday. My kids thought this was quite funny. My youngest would keep jumping on his cousin and then she would fall to the floor (which I had thankfully asked them to cushion with a mattress). So her bumps turned more into falls. A good time was had by all. (Pic 1: sign at McDonald's)
After the birthday it was mainly wrap-up time in India, figuring out any last minute details, confirming travel plans, and saying goodbyes. After travelling for 5 weeks, it is always good to come home. But after the hustle and bustle of the city and so much family it felt very quiet in Madison. The house feels too big for just the four of us. But after a while as jetlag wears off, we all settle into our routines and life goes on. (Pic 2: Pretty much what Delhi looked like this summer)Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Summer Travel to India – Part IV – Chandigarh and Chail
We continued our summer travels to Chandigarh to visit my Dad. So far all our travels were by air, but we headed off to Chandigarh on the Shatabdi Express train. My kids love the experience of being on a train and it is wonderfully short – only 3 hours to get to Chandigarh. The train is air conditioned and has reasonably comfortable seats that even tilt back a little for extra comfort. If I have any complaints, it is that they don’t stop serving you. As soon as the train sets off, servers come by and give every passenger on board bottled water. After that they come by again to give you some boxed juice, usually apple or mango. Next someone comes by to hand out newspapers to anyone who might want one. Then they swing by and start the real service – serving breakfast (we were on the morning train), this includes bread, butter, jelly, omelet (non-veg option) or vegetable cutlets, couple of biscuits, and tea. Then of course the sweep through to pick up all the items they have served. While all this is going on the ticket collector is walking through checking everyone’s tickets. Then another gentleman follows asking for every passenger to identify their baggage and tagging them all so there is no unidentified baggage on board. We travel through villages and cities and fields. It is quite a pleasant trip and scenic train ride. And by the time all the serving is done, we are just about at our destination.
The day we reached Chandigarh the power was out for 6 hours! Luckily my Dad has an inverter so we could have a fan or two running in the house. But otherwise it was just as hot here as it was in New Delhi with the temperatures in the 40s C (100s F). My Dad told us that this was the first time all summer the power had been disrupted in Chandigarh. Anyhow, this was just too much for me and the very next day we set off to the mountains for cooler air.
We drove for 5 hours to Chail in Himachal Pradesh. It follows the same road to Shimla and just about 20 km short of Shimla it diverts off towards Chail. Shimla is a major city and capital of Himachal, it is also a major tourist attraction, so it is crowded with traffic and people. Chail on the other hand is just a quiet little town with a population of less than 10,000. Chail has beautiful pine and deodar forests surrounding it. There is a sanctuary near Chail so the areas surrounding it remain undeveloped. Chail’s claim to fame is they have a cricket ground at the highest altitude. (Pic 1: view from our lodge)
We stayed at a resort run by Himachal Tourism (I completely recommend any hotels run by them) that was at one time the palace of Maharaja of Patiala called the Rajgarh Palace. Since they are the palace grounds the resort itself is a charming campus with beautiful lawns and spectacular views and separate from the town.
The Maharaja of Patiala, Bhupinder Singh, was expelled from Shima by the British. He took it as a challenge and found a small village which was within sight of Shima, in a beautiful location and most importantly was at a slightly higher elevation than Shimla. So he was able to look down his nose at the British from his new amazing Palace.
When we reached Chail the weather could not have been more perfect, it was cool and pleasant. My kids finally came alive and were running about and enjoying the openness and the open air. The deodars surrounding us kept the mountain air fresh. When we booked the rooms at the palace hotel, we learned that there were no rooms available in the original palace building, but if we were willing to stay in one of their lodges on the palace grounds we could get rooms right away. I wasn’t going to wait to get out of the heat, so we took a couple of rooms in the lodge and it turned out to be a wonderful decision. At the lodge we had our own little courtyard overlooking a beautiful valley. Since it was away from the main Palace Hotel there weren’t as many guests and staff about. In fact, everyone at the lodge felt quite comfortable coming out in our pajamas to breathe in the fresh morning air everyday. It would have been perfect if we could have our morning tea in the courtyard as well. But there are lots of monkeys that live in these forests and will grab any food that is out there. So we had to drink our teas in our rooms.
We would walk up a mountain trail to get to the Palace Hotel where the only restaurant in the resort was located. The food was simple and well prepared. If anyone is familiar with Himachali food, you will know that it is healthy, nutritious, tasteful, but not spicy. So this was one time, both my kids ate well. This was great for me considering there are no McDonalds or Dominos nearby.
On the way between the Palace and the lodge is a children’s park. We never saw any of the families from the resort visit this park, but we made it a regular haunt during our three days in Chail. My kids loved it and loved that kids from the town came to play too. They town kids were fascinated by my kids and would play near them. By day three, they were so familiar with us that when I took pictures they would ask me to take theirs too. They loved to see their pictures on my camera and posed for more. (Pic 2: children's park and local kids)
One evening we stayed until dusk at the park. The local kids and their families headed back home taking a mountain trail back home and needed to do it with daylight. Then it was just us in the park and even as we watched the monkeys from the deodar trees started slowly making their way into the park. I guess when the people leave the park belongs to the monkeys.
The first night in Chail it rained. This brought the temperatures down even more. I got a little worried. Here we were escaping the heat and my kids and I did not have any long pants or long sleeved shirts. Luckily there was never any breeze (I don’t know if this is typical of mountain areas) and so after a very short while we were used to the cooler temperatures – we are from Wisconsin afterall. On the second day, my only slippers with me in Chail started to show a tear and I thought I would have to buy new footwear. We set off to the town nearby to get a few snacks to keep in the hotel room for the kids and to repair my slippers or buy something new. We found a mochi (cobbler) who fixed my slipper for Rs. 10 (about 25 cents). What a deal! (Pic 3: the mochi in town)
Then it was time to head back to Chandigarh. Luckily during the one day we spent there the power stayed on. My Dad’s house – my youngest calls this the Gate House – is right across from a park. The kids enjoyed playing there in the evenings, and I enjoyed watching the neighborhood kids play cricket. The teams are fluid as kids come and go during the evening. Disputes happen, they resolve them and the game goes on. My kids will never experience anything like that in the US where everything is so structured. (Pic 4: kids at the park in Chandigarh)
Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
The day we reached Chandigarh the power was out for 6 hours! Luckily my Dad has an inverter so we could have a fan or two running in the house. But otherwise it was just as hot here as it was in New Delhi with the temperatures in the 40s C (100s F). My Dad told us that this was the first time all summer the power had been disrupted in Chandigarh. Anyhow, this was just too much for me and the very next day we set off to the mountains for cooler air.
We drove for 5 hours to Chail in Himachal Pradesh. It follows the same road to Shimla and just about 20 km short of Shimla it diverts off towards Chail. Shimla is a major city and capital of Himachal, it is also a major tourist attraction, so it is crowded with traffic and people. Chail on the other hand is just a quiet little town with a population of less than 10,000. Chail has beautiful pine and deodar forests surrounding it. There is a sanctuary near Chail so the areas surrounding it remain undeveloped. Chail’s claim to fame is they have a cricket ground at the highest altitude. (Pic 1: view from our lodge)We stayed at a resort run by Himachal Tourism (I completely recommend any hotels run by them) that was at one time the palace of Maharaja of Patiala called the Rajgarh Palace. Since they are the palace grounds the resort itself is a charming campus with beautiful lawns and spectacular views and separate from the town.
The Maharaja of Patiala, Bhupinder Singh, was expelled from Shima by the British. He took it as a challenge and found a small village which was within sight of Shima, in a beautiful location and most importantly was at a slightly higher elevation than Shimla. So he was able to look down his nose at the British from his new amazing Palace.
When we reached Chail the weather could not have been more perfect, it was cool and pleasant. My kids finally came alive and were running about and enjoying the openness and the open air. The deodars surrounding us kept the mountain air fresh. When we booked the rooms at the palace hotel, we learned that there were no rooms available in the original palace building, but if we were willing to stay in one of their lodges on the palace grounds we could get rooms right away. I wasn’t going to wait to get out of the heat, so we took a couple of rooms in the lodge and it turned out to be a wonderful decision. At the lodge we had our own little courtyard overlooking a beautiful valley. Since it was away from the main Palace Hotel there weren’t as many guests and staff about. In fact, everyone at the lodge felt quite comfortable coming out in our pajamas to breathe in the fresh morning air everyday. It would have been perfect if we could have our morning tea in the courtyard as well. But there are lots of monkeys that live in these forests and will grab any food that is out there. So we had to drink our teas in our rooms.
We would walk up a mountain trail to get to the Palace Hotel where the only restaurant in the resort was located. The food was simple and well prepared. If anyone is familiar with Himachali food, you will know that it is healthy, nutritious, tasteful, but not spicy. So this was one time, both my kids ate well. This was great for me considering there are no McDonalds or Dominos nearby.
On the way between the Palace and the lodge is a children’s park. We never saw any of the families from the resort visit this park, but we made it a regular haunt during our three days in Chail. My kids loved it and loved that kids from the town came to play too. They town kids were fascinated by my kids and would play near them. By day three, they were so familiar with us that when I took pictures they would ask me to take theirs too. They loved to see their pictures on my camera and posed for more. (Pic 2: children's park and local kids)One evening we stayed until dusk at the park. The local kids and their families headed back home taking a mountain trail back home and needed to do it with daylight. Then it was just us in the park and even as we watched the monkeys from the deodar trees started slowly making their way into the park. I guess when the people leave the park belongs to the monkeys.
The first night in Chail it rained. This brought the temperatures down even more. I got a little worried. Here we were escaping the heat and my kids and I did not have any long pants or long sleeved shirts. Luckily there was never any breeze (I don’t know if this is typical of mountain areas) and so after a very short while we were used to the cooler temperatures – we are from Wisconsin afterall. On the second day, my only slippers with me in Chail started to show a tear and I thought I would have to buy new footwear. We set off to the town nearby to get a few snacks to keep in the hotel room for the kids and to repair my slippers or buy something new. We found a mochi (cobbler) who fixed my slipper for Rs. 10 (about 25 cents). What a deal! (Pic 3: the mochi in town)
Then it was time to head back to Chandigarh. Luckily during the one day we spent there the power stayed on. My Dad’s house – my youngest calls this the Gate House – is right across from a park. The kids enjoyed playing there in the evenings, and I enjoyed watching the neighborhood kids play cricket. The teams are fluid as kids come and go during the evening. Disputes happen, they resolve them and the game goes on. My kids will never experience anything like that in the US where everything is so structured. (Pic 4: kids at the park in Chandigarh)Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Summer Travel to India – Part III – New Delhi
Further continuing our summer travels and we headed back to New Delhi. The best part of New Delhi is that my kids have lots of cousins to play with there. But the terrible part of New Delhi this year was the heat wave. The last time I endured such scorching temperatures in New Delhi was in 1998. And if the temperatures weren’t bad enough, there were power outages - sometimes two or three times a day. When the temperatures hit 43C (110F) on a regular basis even the air conditioner can barely make it tolerable. And when there is no power at all, you can’t do much of anything but just loll around and want to pant like dogs.
So during those evenings when there was no power, we took the time to walk around in the parks. My in-laws’ house is at an amazing location. It is a corner lot and is surrounded by 3 parks. So much space and greenery just outside your windows is quite a unique setting. My in-laws were also one of the first ones to build their house here and planted quite a few trees in the parks so they feel pride seeing them so tall and bearing fruit or flowers.
In New Delhi, we ate out in some fancy restaurants like Oye Punjab, where the interiors are quite grand. This one has an interior fountain, but we had to pay the price for space the fountain took by having tables that are put close together. So close, that you feel you could have conversations with the people at the next table. The food was ok, but pricy. I guess we did pay for the ambiance.
In contrast, we took our in-laws to celebrate their 5oth wedding anniversary to Oh! Calcutta – also another fancy restaurant. I have never eaten Bengali food before, but my family claimed it was great food. The wonderful part of this restaurant was that it was not crowded (maybe because it was a weekday). The tables were not closely placed so even if it had been a busy night we would still have had a wonderful dinner.
Some of the restaurants I truly enjoyed were not so expensive and the food was great. We ate some great South Indian food (great for New Delhi) and some wonderful Indo-Chinese food. Even my kids tried some of these foods. We still had to track down Dominos and McDonalds for them though.
In addition to eating out we also shopped in New Delhi. In the past, we have done the mall thing. This time we pretty much stayed away from them, except to get McDonalds for the kids. (Pic 1: one of the malls in New Delhi) We braved the heat and visited such shopping areas like Janpath and Khan Market where they have little stalls with clothes, kitchenware, fake jewelry, and whatnot. There are tiny lanes created with all these shops, if my sister-in-law hadn’t been with me, I would still be walking around in there trying to find my way out.
It seems like we did a lot of shopping in India, which is really not the case. One major shopping item on my list was a wedding gift for my mother-in-law. As I mentioned earlier it was their 50th wedding anniversary – Gold Anniversary. So I set off to look at some gold jewelry for her. Have you seen gold prices these days, I couldn’t find anything that looked halfway decent and within my budget and my budget wasn’t too shabby either. Anyhow, after looking at several jewelry stores both big and small, I ended up buying her a diamond and gold bracelet. Hard to believe that a diamond and gold bracelet fit my budget, but a plain gold bracelet wouldn’t.
I also went to a Sangeet (pre-wedding song party). The ladies came in colorful sarees (I got to wear my new one from Indore). The Sangeet is an event for family and close friends only. There were about a 100 guests at the Sangeet which was held out on the front lawn. Seating was arranged around the lawn. One end of the lawn was set up as a buffet. In the center was a stage. The entertainment was set up as two parts – first, a lady called on various family members and sang songs about them or their importance to the family. She was so spontaneous it was amazing. For later, a DJ was set up with a dance floor and in between these was a show with a fire thrower. It was still warm in the evening, and there were fans set around the yard misting the air to cool it. As we were leaving the party, two young men beat drums to bid us adieu. (Pic 2: Mehndi (henna) at the Sangeet)
Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
So during those evenings when there was no power, we took the time to walk around in the parks. My in-laws’ house is at an amazing location. It is a corner lot and is surrounded by 3 parks. So much space and greenery just outside your windows is quite a unique setting. My in-laws were also one of the first ones to build their house here and planted quite a few trees in the parks so they feel pride seeing them so tall and bearing fruit or flowers.
In New Delhi, we ate out in some fancy restaurants like Oye Punjab, where the interiors are quite grand. This one has an interior fountain, but we had to pay the price for space the fountain took by having tables that are put close together. So close, that you feel you could have conversations with the people at the next table. The food was ok, but pricy. I guess we did pay for the ambiance.
In contrast, we took our in-laws to celebrate their 5oth wedding anniversary to Oh! Calcutta – also another fancy restaurant. I have never eaten Bengali food before, but my family claimed it was great food. The wonderful part of this restaurant was that it was not crowded (maybe because it was a weekday). The tables were not closely placed so even if it had been a busy night we would still have had a wonderful dinner.
Some of the restaurants I truly enjoyed were not so expensive and the food was great. We ate some great South Indian food (great for New Delhi) and some wonderful Indo-Chinese food. Even my kids tried some of these foods. We still had to track down Dominos and McDonalds for them though.
In addition to eating out we also shopped in New Delhi. In the past, we have done the mall thing. This time we pretty much stayed away from them, except to get McDonalds for the kids. (Pic 1: one of the malls in New Delhi) We braved the heat and visited such shopping areas like Janpath and Khan Market where they have little stalls with clothes, kitchenware, fake jewelry, and whatnot. There are tiny lanes created with all these shops, if my sister-in-law hadn’t been with me, I would still be walking around in there trying to find my way out. It seems like we did a lot of shopping in India, which is really not the case. One major shopping item on my list was a wedding gift for my mother-in-law. As I mentioned earlier it was their 50th wedding anniversary – Gold Anniversary. So I set off to look at some gold jewelry for her. Have you seen gold prices these days, I couldn’t find anything that looked halfway decent and within my budget and my budget wasn’t too shabby either. Anyhow, after looking at several jewelry stores both big and small, I ended up buying her a diamond and gold bracelet. Hard to believe that a diamond and gold bracelet fit my budget, but a plain gold bracelet wouldn’t.
I also went to a Sangeet (pre-wedding song party). The ladies came in colorful sarees (I got to wear my new one from Indore). The Sangeet is an event for family and close friends only. There were about a 100 guests at the Sangeet which was held out on the front lawn. Seating was arranged around the lawn. One end of the lawn was set up as a buffet. In the center was a stage. The entertainment was set up as two parts – first, a lady called on various family members and sang songs about them or their importance to the family. She was so spontaneous it was amazing. For later, a DJ was set up with a dance floor and in between these was a show with a fire thrower. It was still warm in the evening, and there were fans set around the yard misting the air to cool it. As we were leaving the party, two young men beat drums to bid us adieu. (Pic 2: Mehndi (henna) at the Sangeet)Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Summer Travel to India – Part II – Indore
Continuing our summer travels, in less than a week we set off for Indore to visit my elder sister and her family. I have not been to this part of the country before. Visiting her was also another pleasant surprise. Both my sister and her husband are faculty at a dental college and live in faculty housing on the campus. The campus is about 10 km away from the city of Indore and set midst some fields.
Bombay is densely built and crowded, but it was a homecoming and had its own joy. Indore (at least where my sister lives) has wide open spaces and beautiful fields and campus. It was pretty hot in Indore so we spent a lot of time indoors – either at home, in cars or in malls/shops.
I decided to skip any sightseeing in Indore, as I could barely tolerate the heat. So instead we went shopping. One of the first shops we went to was a music store. I asked the store owner for recommendations and she would pull different CDs off the shelf. If I was unsure of her selection, she would ask one of the workers at the store to put it on their music system. So needless to say, I left with quite a collection of CDs. Am I soft touch or what? I also bought some fun jewelry and finally a beautiful saree.
To buy the saree we first went to a couple of designer saree shops. The sarees are priced exorbitantly and I couldn’t really determine the “design” part of them. The salespeople claim, their beauty is in the wearing, yet they don’t pull out a single saree and show you how it would look draped. I wonder how they stay in business. If you ever visit a regular saree shop in India, you know they open just about any saree you want to have a look at; they even encourage you to drape it on yourself to
see if you like the color or they will drape it on themselves so you can see how the pattern shows. It is from one these shops that I found a beautiful saree for myself.
We also visited a mall (western style) in Indore, where you get a mix of both Western and Indian clothing where one style is available in different sizes. Just like shopping in the US. The malls are attractively built and I loved them for their air conditioning. Another great part of the mall for me was I could buy McDonalds or Dominos pizzas for my kids, who don’t eat Indian food – I know it is sacrilegious. (Pic: street view from the mall entranc
e)
On the last day of our stay in Indore my sister was going out of town regarding work and was happy to leave because by then, her husbands and daughters were all caught in rearranging some furniture in their apartment, which she hates doing. I on the other hand love rearranging furniture, so I was happy to lend a hand. After doing some work on their daughters’ room, we rearranged her whole kitchen. Here is a picture when everything was pulled off the shelves.
Bombay is densely built and crowded, but it was a homecoming and had its own joy. Indore (at least where my sister lives) has wide open spaces and beautiful fields and campus. It was pretty hot in Indore so we spent a lot of time indoors – either at home, in cars or in malls/shops.
I decided to skip any sightseeing in Indore, as I could barely tolerate the heat. So instead we went shopping. One of the first shops we went to was a music store. I asked the store owner for recommendations and she would pull different CDs off the shelf. If I was unsure of her selection, she would ask one of the workers at the store to put it on their music system. So needless to say, I left with quite a collection of CDs. Am I soft touch or what? I also bought some fun jewelry and finally a beautiful saree.
To buy the saree we first went to a couple of designer saree shops. The sarees are priced exorbitantly and I couldn’t really determine the “design” part of them. The salespeople claim, their beauty is in the wearing, yet they don’t pull out a single saree and show you how it would look draped. I wonder how they stay in business. If you ever visit a regular saree shop in India, you know they open just about any saree you want to have a look at; they even encourage you to drape it on yourself to
see if you like the color or they will drape it on themselves so you can see how the pattern shows. It is from one these shops that I found a beautiful saree for myself.We also visited a mall (western style) in Indore, where you get a mix of both Western and Indian clothing where one style is available in different sizes. Just like shopping in the US. The malls are attractively built and I loved them for their air conditioning. Another great part of the mall for me was I could buy McDonalds or Dominos pizzas for my kids, who don’t eat Indian food – I know it is sacrilegious. (Pic: street view from the mall entranc
e)On the last day of our stay in Indore my sister was going out of town regarding work and was happy to leave because by then, her husbands and daughters were all caught in rearranging some furniture in their apartment, which she hates doing. I on the other hand love rearranging furniture, so I was happy to lend a hand. After doing some work on their daughters’ room, we rearranged her whole kitchen. Here is a picture when everything was pulled off the shelves.
Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Summer Travel to India – Part I – Bombay
This June, the kids and I set off for India to visit family. We rode a stretch limo from Madison to Chicago. That was quite a treat. We could stretch out, the kids watched their DVDs on the car system. It was a lot more comfortable than flying into Chicago or driving ourselves. And for the price a total bargain.
At the Chicago airport we had plenty of time after our bags were checked in, so I took the kids up to the eating lounge and tried to fill their bellies so they would settle down quickly on the plane and sleep. Then we headed off to our waiting lounge. My youngest wanted to use the restroom and I took him. Then he wanted to go again, so we headed back to the restroom, but this time I decided to use the facilities as well and asked him to stand right outside my door until I was done. When I got out, he was gone. I looked about for him but didn’t spot him. I asked one of the airline crews how to go about locating him. The man tried to reassure me that he was probably just lost and not, you know, kidnapped. Oh, I know. I know exactly what he thought. He thought he could find his way back to his brother and why wait around for Mom. So we walked around looking for him. In a few minutes, we found him. He was spotted by another airline crew crying. When we were reunited I asked him if he was scared and crying when the lady found him. He said, I don’t want to talk about it.
In India it is hot as can be in June, but I find it works best because my kids have summer vacation and their cousins in India also have summer vacation. This is also the first time I was going to travel around to visit my sisters and take my kids along with me as we travelled to five places – New Delhi, Mumbai, Indore, New Delhi again, Chandigarh, Chail and back to New Delhi.
A wonderful thing about having in-laws in New Delhi is that when we land in New Delhi, we are there – No more travel. We took a non-stop American Airlines flight from Chicago to New Delhi which takes about 15 hours. We only planned to be in New Delhi for a day and set off to Mumbai the very next day. I figured the kids were old enough and they would be able to deal with their jetlag on their own. In trips past, I had to stay up with them and so my jetlag lasted as long as theirs did. The younger they are the longer the jetlag.
Even though it was late night when we reached New Delhi, it was still hot. Coming from Wisconsin, where spring was still debating its arrival, feeling the heat in New Delhi was a shock. So by the time we reached home – my youngest likes to call it the White House as it is painted white on the outside – we were all sweaty. It was close to midnight but I needed a bath to refresh after the long journey, but mostly the hot trip from the airport to home. Before kids (BK) I used to be so organized and knew exactly where everything was packed. No more. So I unpacked all our suitcases and found a change of clothes for myself and the kids.
The next day, I was setting right off to Mumbai, so now I had to repack most of it again. My reasoning to get to Mumbai as soon as possible was to avoid the monsoons and be back in New Delhi safe and sound. The flight to Mumbai was uneventful. My brother-in-law (BIL) and my nephew came to pick us up at the airport. Part of my growing up happened in Mumbai. My father was in the Indian Navy and my BIL is also in the Indian Navy. My sister’s family lives on the same Base I grew up in. So in many ways this was a homecoming for me. The sights and sounds of Mumbai filled me with nostalgia. Like many other cities, Mumbai is also constantly changing, but when you reach South Mumbai where land is limited and was where the city was built by the British – and named Bombay – everything seems the same as when I left and it was still Bombay then, the name changed to Mumbai after I left India and so it will always be Bombay to me.
When we reached their home, we visited for a little while and then I had to have a bath to freshen up. When I unpacked our bags – guess what? – I had not repacked my underwear from New Delhi. So I just had to rewash and wring as hard as I could and rewear. In the heat, let me tell you, it was quite refreshing. So needless to say, my first task in Bombay was to buy underwear.
Two of my sister’s live in Bombay, well if you want to be picky, my youngest sister lives in Navi Mumbai (New Bombay as it was first called). She spent the day with us and we reminisced about our childhood. Not only were we all meeting after along time, but we were also in a place where the three of us grew up for part of our childhood.
In the mornings my sister and I would walk to a small shop, no more than a stall really, where they made fresh vada pao and brought some home for breakfast. You get the best vada pao in Bombay. Then we walked along the seashore everyday. One of the best parts of being on a Naval Base is that we had the most private, uncrowded seashore walkway. Of all the places we visited this summer, Bombay had the “coolest” temperatures.
My kids and their cousin got along famously and my youngest still asks us to head back to Bombay so he can play with him. One evening we sat by their seashore club and enjoyed the sea breeze, snacks and great company. I had forgotten the joys of enjoying a meal at a club. There is no hurry to eat and leave, you can spend a few hours visiting with friends, enjoy the outdoor, stroll or just take
the time to sip your drink and relax.
In Bombay we spend an evening by the Gateway of India and got a close look at the Hotel Taj (the one under terrorist attack last year). (Pic Hotel Taj in Bomba) They have done great work repairing the outside; you could hardly see any damage. But there is obviously a lot to be done on the inside and the hotel is still closed. After a ride on a Victoria (a horse drawn carriage) we went to a revolving restaurant – The Pearl of the Orient. It was a Chinese restaurant and one of only two restaurants that I have eaten in India where the tables are not on top of each other. We had a nice enjoyable dinner to celebrate my sister’s wedding anniversary. (Pic. Marine Drive or Queens Necklace from Pearl of the Orient)
One evening, my siste
r and I set off to do some shopping. We went into Akbarally’s where they sell readymade clothes, household items and some electronics as well. The saleslady who helped us was very persuasive and got me to select about 5 or 6 different clothes, while I had only planned on getting one maybe two things. Buying readymade clothes in India is quite different from shopping in the US. Each piece is one of a kind. If it doesn’t fit, then you have to just try and finding something else you like.
But the great part is if you like something but want small changes made – like changing the sleeve length, raising the hem etc, the store will do it for you in minutes while you wait. Anyhow, our sales lady was so persuasive, before I knew it I had about 5 things that were being altered, retried, and altered again. By now the store was closing and we were the only customers in the store. They closed the main doors and the staff were packing up and finishing their tasks before heading out.
I was ready to tell the saleslady that I only mean to buy a couple of the clothes selected. Just then one of her colleagues walked up and they started talking about the new sales target they had been given to meet this month. The colleague was concerned that the downturn in the economy would make it hard to meet this target. Our saleslady said, she was not afraid and she would just make it happen. Needless to say, I left the store with all five outfits. By now they had even turned the main lights off and only the security lights were on, the security man let us out from a side door.
Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
At the Chicago airport we had plenty of time after our bags were checked in, so I took the kids up to the eating lounge and tried to fill their bellies so they would settle down quickly on the plane and sleep. Then we headed off to our waiting lounge. My youngest wanted to use the restroom and I took him. Then he wanted to go again, so we headed back to the restroom, but this time I decided to use the facilities as well and asked him to stand right outside my door until I was done. When I got out, he was gone. I looked about for him but didn’t spot him. I asked one of the airline crews how to go about locating him. The man tried to reassure me that he was probably just lost and not, you know, kidnapped. Oh, I know. I know exactly what he thought. He thought he could find his way back to his brother and why wait around for Mom. So we walked around looking for him. In a few minutes, we found him. He was spotted by another airline crew crying. When we were reunited I asked him if he was scared and crying when the lady found him. He said, I don’t want to talk about it.
In India it is hot as can be in June, but I find it works best because my kids have summer vacation and their cousins in India also have summer vacation. This is also the first time I was going to travel around to visit my sisters and take my kids along with me as we travelled to five places – New Delhi, Mumbai, Indore, New Delhi again, Chandigarh, Chail and back to New Delhi.
A wonderful thing about having in-laws in New Delhi is that when we land in New Delhi, we are there – No more travel. We took a non-stop American Airlines flight from Chicago to New Delhi which takes about 15 hours. We only planned to be in New Delhi for a day and set off to Mumbai the very next day. I figured the kids were old enough and they would be able to deal with their jetlag on their own. In trips past, I had to stay up with them and so my jetlag lasted as long as theirs did. The younger they are the longer the jetlag.
Even though it was late night when we reached New Delhi, it was still hot. Coming from Wisconsin, where spring was still debating its arrival, feeling the heat in New Delhi was a shock. So by the time we reached home – my youngest likes to call it the White House as it is painted white on the outside – we were all sweaty. It was close to midnight but I needed a bath to refresh after the long journey, but mostly the hot trip from the airport to home. Before kids (BK) I used to be so organized and knew exactly where everything was packed. No more. So I unpacked all our suitcases and found a change of clothes for myself and the kids.
The next day, I was setting right off to Mumbai, so now I had to repack most of it again. My reasoning to get to Mumbai as soon as possible was to avoid the monsoons and be back in New Delhi safe and sound. The flight to Mumbai was uneventful. My brother-in-law (BIL) and my nephew came to pick us up at the airport. Part of my growing up happened in Mumbai. My father was in the Indian Navy and my BIL is also in the Indian Navy. My sister’s family lives on the same Base I grew up in. So in many ways this was a homecoming for me. The sights and sounds of Mumbai filled me with nostalgia. Like many other cities, Mumbai is also constantly changing, but when you reach South Mumbai where land is limited and was where the city was built by the British – and named Bombay – everything seems the same as when I left and it was still Bombay then, the name changed to Mumbai after I left India and so it will always be Bombay to me.
When we reached their home, we visited for a little while and then I had to have a bath to freshen up. When I unpacked our bags – guess what? – I had not repacked my underwear from New Delhi. So I just had to rewash and wring as hard as I could and rewear. In the heat, let me tell you, it was quite refreshing. So needless to say, my first task in Bombay was to buy underwear.
Two of my sister’s live in Bombay, well if you want to be picky, my youngest sister lives in Navi Mumbai (New Bombay as it was first called). She spent the day with us and we reminisced about our childhood. Not only were we all meeting after along time, but we were also in a place where the three of us grew up for part of our childhood.
In the mornings my sister and I would walk to a small shop, no more than a stall really, where they made fresh vada pao and brought some home for breakfast. You get the best vada pao in Bombay. Then we walked along the seashore everyday. One of the best parts of being on a Naval Base is that we had the most private, uncrowded seashore walkway. Of all the places we visited this summer, Bombay had the “coolest” temperatures.
My kids and their cousin got along famously and my youngest still asks us to head back to Bombay so he can play with him. One evening we sat by their seashore club and enjoyed the sea breeze, snacks and great company. I had forgotten the joys of enjoying a meal at a club. There is no hurry to eat and leave, you can spend a few hours visiting with friends, enjoy the outdoor, stroll or just take
the time to sip your drink and relax.In Bombay we spend an evening by the Gateway of India and got a close look at the Hotel Taj (the one under terrorist attack last year). (Pic Hotel Taj in Bomba) They have done great work repairing the outside; you could hardly see any damage. But there is obviously a lot to be done on the inside and the hotel is still closed. After a ride on a Victoria (a horse drawn carriage) we went to a revolving restaurant – The Pearl of the Orient. It was a Chinese restaurant and one of only two restaurants that I have eaten in India where the tables are not on top of each other. We had a nice enjoyable dinner to celebrate my sister’s wedding anniversary. (Pic. Marine Drive or Queens Necklace from Pearl of the Orient)
One evening, my siste
r and I set off to do some shopping. We went into Akbarally’s where they sell readymade clothes, household items and some electronics as well. The saleslady who helped us was very persuasive and got me to select about 5 or 6 different clothes, while I had only planned on getting one maybe two things. Buying readymade clothes in India is quite different from shopping in the US. Each piece is one of a kind. If it doesn’t fit, then you have to just try and finding something else you like.But the great part is if you like something but want small changes made – like changing the sleeve length, raising the hem etc, the store will do it for you in minutes while you wait. Anyhow, our sales lady was so persuasive, before I knew it I had about 5 things that were being altered, retried, and altered again. By now the store was closing and we were the only customers in the store. They closed the main doors and the staff were packing up and finishing their tasks before heading out.
I was ready to tell the saleslady that I only mean to buy a couple of the clothes selected. Just then one of her colleagues walked up and they started talking about the new sales target they had been given to meet this month. The colleague was concerned that the downturn in the economy would make it hard to meet this target. Our saleslady said, she was not afraid and she would just make it happen. Needless to say, I left the store with all five outfits. By now they had even turned the main lights off and only the security lights were on, the security man let us out from a side door.
Copyright Kalpana Kanwar August 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
Stranded Upriver
It was a beautiful summer day BK (before kids) and our friends were visiting us from out of town. We decided to go river rafting on Wisconsin River. After booking our rafting trip, a young girl explained the river route to us. She showed us some pictures and told us they were taken, oh, about 4 or 5 years ago. And these photos only give a general idea of what the landscape looks like, because every year it changes with the dunes.
We had two choices to pick from for the rafting trip – 5 hours or 3 hours. As the young girl continued to explain the river route, she told us as she showed us a picture that if you are doing the 3 hour route this is where you will land. She explained that if you are doing the 5 hour trip then you will go past a beach of “nature” admirers.
We all felt, 3 hours was plenty of time. So we put on our life vests and set of on two canoes down the river. Wisconsin River at this part is quite shallow and has a gentle flow. We started rowing and maneuvering to keep the canoe centered. We had maybe gone about an hour or so, when I noticed the “nature” admirers. I told our guests, I think we have gone too far and have to return to our landing site for pick up. The pick up was of course scheduled and we had to make it or be stranded and figure out a way to get back to our cars.
So now we started canoeing upstream. Oh, what a workout. Before it seemed like the river was just a gentle flow, now it seemed like it was raging with currents. Anyhow, we kept creeping up the river slowly, really working our arm muscles. A couple of times we spotted what looked like a landing site and rowed up. One of the landing sites turned out to be a public landing site for boat owners. So off we went again. Another landing site didn’t turn out to be much of anything. Now we were at a total loss. We didn’t know if we still had a ways to go to our landing site, if we had altogether missed it or what?
As we were rowing we saw a man fishing by a small sandy area. We rowed up to him and asked him if he knew where the pick up site for this rafting trip was. He pointed further upriver and said, just around this little outcrop here. So we said thanks and started rowing upriver again.
By this time my arms were hurting something bad. So I bent my head and started rowing as hard as I could. After a while I lifted my head and saw we were in the exact same spot as when we were talking with the fishing guy. The guy was laughing so hard, he was bent over double. I apologized to him for ruining his fishing; he could only wave his hand at us as he continued to laugh. Meanwhile, since we were talking and not rowing, we were now 10 yards down river.
By now I felt ready to just jump out of the canoe and drag it to shore and just wade through to our pick up landing site. Not that the river shore was a clean walking path. This is when a couple in a motored canoe drove up to us and asked if we wanted help going to our landing site. They told us they had been keeping an eye on us to see if we needed help. We gratefully accepted their help. It turned out our landing site was just as the fishing guy said, only a few more yards upriver. We got there safely and then had to sit around waiting for pick up, since we were now an hour early.
Apparently when we chose the 3 hour rafting ride, it meant we just had to sit in the canoes and not row, but simply use the oars to avoid any rocks or shallow spots in the river. If I hadn’t spotted the “nature” admirers’ beach, in 3 hours we might have reached the Mississippi River!
Copyright Kalpana Kanwar Aug 3, 2009
We had two choices to pick from for the rafting trip – 5 hours or 3 hours. As the young girl continued to explain the river route, she told us as she showed us a picture that if you are doing the 3 hour route this is where you will land. She explained that if you are doing the 5 hour trip then you will go past a beach of “nature” admirers.
We all felt, 3 hours was plenty of time. So we put on our life vests and set of on two canoes down the river. Wisconsin River at this part is quite shallow and has a gentle flow. We started rowing and maneuvering to keep the canoe centered. We had maybe gone about an hour or so, when I noticed the “nature” admirers. I told our guests, I think we have gone too far and have to return to our landing site for pick up. The pick up was of course scheduled and we had to make it or be stranded and figure out a way to get back to our cars.
So now we started canoeing upstream. Oh, what a workout. Before it seemed like the river was just a gentle flow, now it seemed like it was raging with currents. Anyhow, we kept creeping up the river slowly, really working our arm muscles. A couple of times we spotted what looked like a landing site and rowed up. One of the landing sites turned out to be a public landing site for boat owners. So off we went again. Another landing site didn’t turn out to be much of anything. Now we were at a total loss. We didn’t know if we still had a ways to go to our landing site, if we had altogether missed it or what?
As we were rowing we saw a man fishing by a small sandy area. We rowed up to him and asked him if he knew where the pick up site for this rafting trip was. He pointed further upriver and said, just around this little outcrop here. So we said thanks and started rowing upriver again.
By this time my arms were hurting something bad. So I bent my head and started rowing as hard as I could. After a while I lifted my head and saw we were in the exact same spot as when we were talking with the fishing guy. The guy was laughing so hard, he was bent over double. I apologized to him for ruining his fishing; he could only wave his hand at us as he continued to laugh. Meanwhile, since we were talking and not rowing, we were now 10 yards down river.
By now I felt ready to just jump out of the canoe and drag it to shore and just wade through to our pick up landing site. Not that the river shore was a clean walking path. This is when a couple in a motored canoe drove up to us and asked if we wanted help going to our landing site. They told us they had been keeping an eye on us to see if we needed help. We gratefully accepted their help. It turned out our landing site was just as the fishing guy said, only a few more yards upriver. We got there safely and then had to sit around waiting for pick up, since we were now an hour early.
Apparently when we chose the 3 hour rafting ride, it meant we just had to sit in the canoes and not row, but simply use the oars to avoid any rocks or shallow spots in the river. If I hadn’t spotted the “nature” admirers’ beach, in 3 hours we might have reached the Mississippi River!
Copyright Kalpana Kanwar Aug 3, 2009
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